Planet Watch
Prudhoe Bay closure jacks up oil prices
Talk about your great moments in bad timing. Will we hit the much-feared $100 per barrel before the year is out? From Bloomberg, Aug. 8 (links and emphasis added):
Oil traded near a three-week high in New York on concern BP Plc's pipeline closure in Alaska will cut off supplies from the largest oil field in the U.S. for months.
Murray Bookchin, visionary social theorist, dies at 85
Brian Tokar of Vermont's Institute for Social Ecology writes:
Murray Bookchin, the visionary social theorist and activist, died during the early morning of Sunday, July 30 in his home in Burlington, Vermont. During a prolific career of writing, teaching and political activism that spanned half a century, Bookchin forged a new anti-authoritarian outlook rooted in ecology, dialectical philosophy and left libertarianism.
July 4th fireworks threaten life on Earth
North Korea notoriously test-fired at least seven missiles July 4—although the intercontinental Taepodong-2, which we were told could reach parts of the Western US, failed less than a minute after launch, falling into the Sea of Japan, along with the other, medium-range missiles. The timing of the spectacle was not lost on observers. "It's very in-your-face to do it on the Fourth of July," said Ashton B. Carter, a Harvard professor who, with former defense secretary William Perry, had urged the Bush administration to destroy the Taepodong missile on the launch pad. (WP, July 5)
Malaysia's Mahathir: "World War 4" looms
From AFP, June 7 via Spacewar:
A new world war involving nuclear weapons may have already begun, Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said Wednesday, warning that an attack on Iran would be disastrous.
Bush seeks privatization of national forests
The Bush administration has just upped the ante on turning federally-administrated public lands over to corporate interests. Previously, they had just pushed to expand timber, oil and mineral lease rights, citing the energy crunch and need for "energy independence" due to Middle East instability. Now they are talking about an unprecedented direct sell-off--in the name of closing budget deficits themselves created by the Iraq adventure. From Montana's Great Falls Tribune, May 8:
Tibet: glaciers melting fast
A good thing we all know global warming is only a myth. From MSNBC, May 2:
BEIJING — Glaciers covering China's Qinghai-Tibet plateau are shrinking by 7 percent a year due to global warming and the environmental consequences may be dire, the government-run Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the dolphins are dying...
From AP, May 3:
Sonar tied to deaths of 400 dolphins?
Zanzibar scientists look for clues; U.S. Navy task force in area
ZANZIBAR - Scientists are studying the remains of some of the 400 dolphins that washed up dead on a beach popular with tourists on the northern coast of Zanzibar.
Bush plans bombardment of Moon
This is just about the most insidious thing the Bush boys are doing—because while plans to bomb Iran at least spark headlines and outrage, plans to bomb the Moon languish in the back pages of the newspapers, and even many "progressives" see it as harmless "science." Recall, this is the same administration which is vigorously suppressing science at NASA, when it comes to the mounting evidence of global warming that would upset Bush's pals in the oil biz. Similarly, this supposed pursuit of "science" is also soley about advancing corporate power—to the final frontier. After Earth is destroyed, there is still the Moon and eight other planets to chew up and spit out. It would be an absolute disaster if water is found on the Moon. The anti-war forces must adopt this as an urgent issue. U.S. IMPERIALISM HANDS OFF THE MOON! From AP, April 10:

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